Reforestation: Impact on Climate

Lesson Plans

Grades6, 7, 8Earth and Space Sciences, Mathematics

Scientist Reviewed

Provided by The Nature Conservancy

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What it is

In this resource from Nature Lab by The Nature Conservancy, students will understand how deforestation impacts the environment and how replanting trees can help sequester carbon.
Students will hear from scientists, participate in a Socratic seminar, and measure trees outside to determine their sequestration power.

Teaching tips

Positives

The Socratic seminar activity is an exercise in perspective-taking that will benefit students.
Students will enjoy getting out in nature to identify and measure trees.

Prerequisites

The link for the slideshow is broken. This link is for similar images from the same provider. Additionally, one of the links for the carbon footprint tools is broken.
The link for the information on the species coefficient is also broken.
Some of the links for additional resources are broken.

Differentiation & Implementation

To make connections to language arts, students can analyze the word parts in reforestation and deforestation to determine their meanings.
Many of the protocols in this lesson, such as the method for ensuring student participation in discussion and clock buddies, can be introduced and continued as regular, established procedures.
For the tree identification activity, students can use this resource.

From the scientist review

This resource from The Nature Conservancy introduces students to the role of reforestation in addressing climate change. It incorporates real-world data from peer-reviewed sources and global mapping tools to help students analyze carbon storage potential and compare reforestation strategies across regions. The data is sourced from reputable scientific studies and presented clearly. This resource would be a great addition to lessons on carbon cycles, land use, and nature-based climate solutions.

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At a glance

Grades: 6, 7, 8
Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences, Mathematics
Other types: Articles/Websites, Videos, Activity - Classroom, Activity - Outdoors
Format: PDF
Language: English
Location: Earth
Provider: The Nature Conservancy
Authors: Nature Lab by The Nature Conservancy
Published: August 7, 2025
Last updated: July 16, 2026
: Reviewed by our climate scientists How we review

Standards alignment · CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.6 + 11 more

Core

Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.6Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas efficiently as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

MS-LS2-5.Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
MS-ESS3-5.Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
MS-LS2-C.2.Biodiversity describes the variety of species found in Earth’s terrestrial and oceanic ecosystems. The completeness or integrity of an ecosystem’s biodiversity is often used as a measure of its health. (MS-LS2-5)
MS-LS4-D.Changes in biodiversity can influence humans’ resources, such as food, energy, and medicines, as well as ecosystem services that humans rely on— for example, water purification and recycling. (secondary to MS-LS2-5)
MS-ESS3-D.Human activities, such as the release of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, are major factors in the current rise in Earth’s mean surface temperature (global warming). Reducing the level of climate change and reducing human vulnerability to whatever climate changes do occur depend on the understanding of climate science, engineering capabilities, and other kinds of knowledge, such as understanding of human behavior and on applying that knowledge wisely in decisions and activities. (MS-ESS3-5)
MS-ETS1-A.The more precisely a design task’s criteria and constraints can be defined, the more likely it is that the designed solution will be successful. Specification of constraints includes consideration of scientific principles and other relevant knowledge that is likely to limit possible solutions. (secondary to MS-PS3-3)

Maine Climate Education Hub

English Language Arts

W.6-8.3Routinely produce a variety of clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, audience, and purpose.

Mathematics

6.EE.B.6Use variables to represent numbers and write expressions when solving a real-world or mathematical problem; understand that a variable can represent an unknown number, or, depending on the purpose at hand, any number in a specified set.
6.EE.B.7Solve real-world and mathematical problems by writing and solving equations of the form x + p = q and px = q for cases in which p, q and x are all nonnegative rational numbers.

Science and Engineering

MS-ETS1-1Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.
MS-ETS1-2Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

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